Indianola Park facts for kids
Indianola Park was a popular amusement park in Columbus, Ohio. It was open from 1905 to 1937. Charles Miles and Frederick Ingersoll created the park. It was most popular in the 1910s. Up to 10,000 people visited on busy days. The huge pool alone could hold 5,000 swimmers! The park had many roller coasters and fun rides. It was also the home field for the Columbus Panhandles, an early football team, for five years. New owners bought the park in the 1920s. They updated it, and it did well until the Great Depression caused it to close.
Today, the land where Indianola Park once stood is different. It now has the Indianola Junior High School. The Ohio State University bought this school in 2018. There is also the Indianola Shopping Center. This center is owned by Xenos Christian Fellowship. It includes places like Suzi-Cue Pool Hall, Soussy Market, 4th Street Studio, and King's Pizza.
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Park Location: Where Was It?
The main entrance to Indianola Park was at N 4th Street and E 19th Avenue. The park covered about 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land. It stretched from E 18th Avenue north to E Norwich Avenue. It also went east from N 4th Street to Big Four Street and the railroad tracks.
Park History: Fun Times in Columbus
How Indianola Park Started
A dentist named Charles Miles created Indianola Park. He was also a developer who built homes. He owned the Summit Land Company. This company built neighborhoods near Ohio State University. Miles got the idea for an amusement park from Coney Island's new Luna Park. He saw how successful it was. He also knew that fun attractions could help sell homes.
Frederick Ingersoll, a famous amusement park designer, planned Indianola Park. He also designed Luna Parks in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Indianola Park opened its gates to the public on June 8, 1905.
When it first opened, the park had many attractions:
- A large dance pavilion
- A very big swimming pool
- An Ingersoll figure 8 roller coaster
- A carousel
- A scenic railroad
- A band shell for music
- A restaurant and concession stands
- Areas for picnics
- Sports fields like tennis courts, a football field, and a baseball diamond
In 1908, a theater was added. Indianola Park then started showing vaudeville acts. Vaudeville was a type of show with different performances. The park offered everything from Shakespeare's plays to Greek dances. They also had circus animals and even diving horses! Other exciting events included hot air balloon rides and tightrope walking. There were also outdoor cinema showings and live sports updates. They even had baby beauty pageants and huge fireworks shows.
A year later, in 1909, the park got big updates. The band shell area became larger. They added a Shoot the Chute water ride and The Blue Streak roller coaster. A funny "Human Laundry" funhouse was also new. For the next five years, the park was the home field for the Columbus Panhandles. This was an early professional football team.
Indianola Park stayed very popular through the 1910s. On weekends, up to 10,000 people would visit. On hot summer days, about 5,000 people would be in the pool alone. Even in winter, the dance pavilion was busy. People loved to dance, thanks to the popular dancers Irene and Vernon Castle. In 1918, the park even hosted Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball games.
New Owners and Changes
In 1923, the park got new owners. They spent a lot of money to make it even better. For weeks before opening day, ads shouted "A Greater Indianola!" and "The Biggest Year of All!" The dance pavilion was updated for the Jazz Age. The swimming pool was fixed, and the locker areas were made bigger.
Many new rides were added too:
- A roller coaster called Thriller
- A Seaplane Swing ride
- A caterpillar ride
- The Joyplane
- Custer Cars, an early type of bumper cars
Indianola Park also started advertising more. They wanted to be "a clean and orderly park for clean and orderly people." They slowly stopped having vaudeville shows and band concerts. Instead, the dance pavilion featured local and touring jazz bands. Flappers, who were stylish young women of the 1920s, loved these bands. Two popular ones were Phil Baxter's Texas Tommies and Tom Howard’s Melody Lads.
The park continued to do well in the mid-1920s. But in 1927, the park sold some of its land. This land, north of E 19th Avenue, went to the Columbus City Schools. They built a new school there, Indianola Junior High School, which opened in 1929.
With less land, Indianola Park mainly had its dance pavilion and pool. It stayed open into the 1930s. The Great Depression made things hard. Few people had extra money for fun at an amusement park. However, very hot summers in the early 1930s helped the park. Temperatures were nearly 100 °F for weeks. This made the pool a popular escape. But after the hot summers ended in 1937, Indianola Park closed for good.
What's There Now: The Shopping Center
In 1948, Indianola Park became the Indianola Park Shopping Center. The big pool was filled in and paved over to make a parking lot. The old dance pavilion became a large grocery store. By 1952, many other shops and restaurants were built around it.
Over the years, the types of businesses changed. In the early 1980s, Suzi-Cue Pool Hall moved into the complex. In 2006, Xenos Christian Fellowship bought the shopping center. They spent $4 million to fix it up. The old dance pavilion became a worship center for the church. They updated everything, from plumbing to lighting. They also planted trees and repaved the parking lot.
Today, the shopping mall still has long-time businesses like Soussy Market and Suzi-Cue. New places like 4th Street Studio and King's Pizza have joined them. A clinic offers medical care to people in need once a week. Every summer, there is also an urban farmer's market. The only parts of the original park still left are some trees from the old picnic area. These are behind the closed school.
Attractions: What Fun Could You Have?
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In the 1910s, the Columbus Panhandles football team played at Indianola Park.
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This is the large pool at Indianola Park, seen from the southwest.
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In 1909, the park was at its biggest size.
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The park had several exciting roller coasters.
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The Dance Pavilion is the only building from the park still standing today.
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Scenic railroads were very popular rides back then.
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The park also had a classic carousel ride.
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The Seaplane Swing was a favorite ride for many visitors.
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There was a huge picnic area with streams and bridges.
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The band shell hosted many famous acts in its time.
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The Ingersoll roller coaster was known as the "smoothest and fastest" of its kind.
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The Thriller was another exciting roller coaster at the park.
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Circus acts and diving horses were popular shows.
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Indianola Park was famous for its large swimming pool and popular dancing hall.
